The Cigna/Nutritionist Saga

Becky from Dr. Blackstone's office said that Cigna was now requiring a consult with a dietician so I went to see the Cigna dietician today. I went to the office on McDowell and 7th Street and I'm here to tell you to save your co-pay. What an exercize in futility! I explained why I was there and she told me that I probably had not tried hard enough with dieting and she was not going to write a letter of recommendation for me. Had I tried Weigh****chers? Only 5 times. OK, I'm a slow learner and it took 5 tries to learn it wasn't for me. I pulled out my list of been there/done that diets and she wouldn't even look at it. She asked if I exercized and I told her that I did water aerobics two days a week and swam laps three days a week. She suggested that I wasn't working at it hard enough. I told her that I was a trained aerobics instructor and I was well aware of what it took to burn calories and lose weight. It was a no win situation so I just packed it in and left. I couldn't even get her to agree to weigh me monthly to meet the Cigna monitored diet requirements. She insisted that I shouldn't be weighed more frequently than 6 to 8 weeks. Yeeesh. I went back to the office, called Becky and scheduled an appointment with the dietician at Blackstone's office. It's worth paying the 75.00 not to deal with the pudgy Diet Nazi from Cigna. Sorry about the last snotty comment. No I'm not.

UGH, Connie, so sorry that you had such a difficult time....I saw G. Jean Merkel, and she was SOO nice (Del Web and Thunderbird.) I didn't have ANYTHING happen like that!! I was SHOCKED to read all that you went through! ALSO, I NEVER paid 75.00!!?? What's up with THAT??? I think I paid 15.00, but for SURE not more than 25.00 max! While the dietician wasn't thrilled about altering your body in such a drastic way, she wished me well.

Ouch Connie, My appointment is next week with the "Cigna Nutritionist" believe her name is Cindy Thomas...she is at 7th and mcdowell also LOL wonder if we'll get the same one... I'll keep ya posted...

Okay went to see the Nutritionist today...it was a decent time, I learned a lot. She was very supportive of the surgery and we discussed at length things I needed to do to prepare for it. I am going to attend the Diabetic Nutrition Clinic to better learn about nutrition, this is all good. She did not come across negatively, but more wanting me to be aware that probably for me 6 small meals a day would work better for the diabetes and to lower my ac'1s (?) She provided me with a lot of good information and seemed to be genuinely concerned about my health. She said that the fact I was taking the approach of improving my health was certainly indicative that I would be successful..... I found her very pleasant and helpful...I'm sorry you had a bad experience there Michelle...

Does the nutritionist send you a copy of what she sends to Dr. Blackstone?